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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Two weeks after Township Manager Dexter Mitchell publicly aired a taped conversation with the township clerk in which she referred to Township Supervisor Dwayne Parker as “an arrogant n----,” calls for Platko to resign the seat to which she was elected in November have come from residents, the Saginaw NAACP, the Michigan Democratic Party and even her colleagues on the township board.

But Platko, who is white, has trudged along, doing her job through e-mail and the occasional phone conversation. Calls and visits to township hall have found her out of the office often since the April 22 meeting where the audiotape was played.

The Platko controversy has taken somewhat of a backseat in this township of 8,500 to news this week that the Buena Vista School District would cancel classes due to its inability to make the May 24 payroll. The district is looking to Lansing for help in getting students back in class.

Still, many residents here say the use of a racial slur by an elected official is unacceptable and Platko needs to resign.

“She’s 69 years old, and clearly understands how out-of-place and unacceptable those comments are,” said Terry Pruitt, first vice president of the Saginaw NAACP. “Anytime you’ve got an elected official who used a racial slur, that person doesn’t deserve to hold office.”

The township, situated in Saginaw County, is about 61% black and 31.5% white, according to 2010 Census figures. Residents say the area isn’t known to be racially tense, and some with ties to the area say this latest incident was more about personality than anything else.

“It’s absolutely not racial,” said Susan Kaltenbach, the clerk for Saginaw County. “This community has been in turmoil for some time. It’s because you can’t control who runs and who’s elected. There’s some great people out there, but they just can’t seem to get along.

“It hurts everything.”

Strained relationships

Mitchell said his phone call to Platko, which took place in January, was initiated in hopes of fixing the relationship between the clerk and supervisors, which had been strained for more than a decade. Parker, the supervisor, began his political career with the township as trustee in 1996 before being appointed as supervisor in 1999. Platko was elected as trustee in 2000 and held the seat until she became clerk.

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Platko:“He’s just rubbing me the wrong way. He is just doing whatever he can... . You know what I think of Mr. Parker right now? And I know you’re not going to like this. He’s just an arrogant n-----. And I’m sorry to say it that way, but that’s just the way I see Dwayne Parker right now.”

Mitchell: “Why would you say that?”

Platko: “That’s what he’s proving to be.”

Mitchell said he kept the conversation under wraps, hoping to find some way for Platko and Parker to work together for the sake of the township. After several months, and deep conversations with his pastor, he played the recording during the board’s April 22 meeting.

Multiple efforts to reach Parker for comment were unsuccessful. A person who answered the door at Platko’s house Thursday said the clerk was busy playing cards an unavailable.

A week after the April 22 meeting, the board voted 5-0 on a resolution requesting Platko‘s resignation. She didn’t attend the meeting, but the meeting room was filled with residents both supporting and denouncing her for her actions. Platko has since apologized to the township for the remarks but said she would not resign her job over the furor nor would she apologize to Parker.

Residents' attention diverted

Thursday night, Mitchell led a town hall meeting on a proposed water-rate increase. He kept a brisk pace while leading the three residents in attendance through the changes for the next three years.

They asked few questions. In half an hour, the meeting was over.

The residents’ attention has quickly turned to the school district’s woes, he said. While he wants what he calls the elephant in the room to be addressed, he said the township still has work to do.

“We need to focus on the water rates, and the roads, and developing our mall property, and economic growth,” he said.

He hasn’t spoken directly with Platko since April 22, he said. But the township office is still functioning, thanks to others working in the office and e-mail.

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Brenda Montgomery of Saginaw, who was eating lunch recently in the McDonald’s near the town’s municipal offices, said she was disturbed by Platko’s actions.

“I’ve been called the n-word myself,” said Montgomery, who is white. “It’s very disgustingly unpleasant. It’s so unprofessional.”

Wendy O’Neal, a Buena Vista Charter Township resident, said no one in Platko’s position should be caught using the n-word to describe anybody.

“That’s out of context with that position,” said O’Neal, who is black. “She’ll do that again. She shouldn’t be in that position.”

The executive committee for the Michigan Democratic Party voted unanimously on May 1 to formally request Platko’s resignation.

“Her comments have no place in our party or otherwise,” the committee said in a statement.

Pruitt, of the Saginaw NAACP, said he was most concerned with the fact that she has not apologized to Parker, and that she knew what she was saying was wrong.

“She prefaced the slur,” he said. “That suggests she thought about it, she knew what she was going to say. It was premeditated. I think she felt (Mitchell’s) ears would hear it and somehow he was going to accept it.”